August Wrap Up/September TBR

Ahhh, August has left us, and September has come, bringing school and much more stress than the summer had. I miss it already. Well, I made the most of my final month of summer and read ten books, completing nine of them. So lets jump right in, shall we!

The first book I read in the month of August was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling. The final book in the Harry Potter series, and definitely one that makes me cry. Dobby dies, I cry. Fred dies, I freaking well sob my eyes out. Tonks and Lupin die, I cry. Hedwig dies, I cry. I mean really, I could go on, because a lot of parts make me cry. But it’s a good book, and a wonderful finale to this series. Rereading this series is always fun, and if I ever have kids, I plan on reading them these books as bedtime stories. And have you seen the new set of Harry Potter books?! I saw them online plenty and loved them, then I saw them instore at Target and they’re so beautiful, I definitely want to buy them. Eventually. The $70 pricetag will make me wait a little.

The next book I read last month was Dime Store Magic by Kelley Armstrong. This one had a new protagonist, Paige, who was a side character in Stolen. It was pretty good. I really love these books, they’re interesting and I enjoy reading them. I read this one while I was on the beach, and it was a perfect beach read.

I also read The Demigod Files and The Demigod Diaries by Rick Riordan. I read both of these in one day, true to Riordan book form, and just devoured them. As always, reading about Percy, Annabeth, Luke, Talia, Leo, and all the others is one of my favorite things to do. Have I mentioned how much I can’t wait for The House of Hades to come out next month? And also, THE HOUSE OF HADES COMES OUT NEXT MONTH!!!!

I read the final book in the Delirium trilogy in August, Requiem by Lauren Oliver. I liked it, but I didn’t like the ending. Not because we didn’t really find out who Lena picked to “end up” with (Julian or Alex), but because we really didn’t find out whether the Resistance group won out or if they only held Portland for a while before being defeated. I NEED TO KNOW THIS! I NEED TO KNOW IF ALL THEY WERE FIGHTING FOR WON!!!! That’s what frustrated me about this ending. However, I did like the series, and the book was pretty good other than that.

I finished Going Bovine by Libba Bray. I had borrowed earlier this summer from the library, but didn’t finish before the due date the first time, had to wait to get it again, and finished it in the second borrowing period. I liked this book. It was a little long, and that made it take longer to read (long as in it felt like it dragged on in some parts), but the telling of the story, retelling of Don Quixote, was incredibly interesting. Libba Bray is a pretty awesome author. I’ll probably buy this book at some point so I can read it whenever.

I read Creation in Death by J.D. Robb last month. This one was really good, and had me honestly freaked out and worried for Eve at one point. And also furious at the villain for trying to target Trina. That was not a good moment. Luckily Eve, Roarke, Peabody, Feeney, McNabb, Trueheart (swoon), and team saved the day, saved a target from being a murder victim, and put the bastard away for the rest of his life. I always love J.D. Robb books.

I read Hourglass by Myra McEntire in August as well. I liked some parts of this book, the premise of time travel, mentions of Doctor Who and Harry Potter, some of the side characters, the setting in Tennessee; but I could barely stand the main character and love interest, and how stupid they and many of the other side characters were. And by the end, I was laughing at all the “twists” being thrown in so quickly. Glad that I only borrowed it from the library, and will probably not be reading the next two in this series any time soon, as they’re not on my library’s digital catalog. Maybe once they’re on there, I’ll read them.

I finished the final book in the Gemma Doyle Trilogy, The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray, this past month. Throughout this entire book, I was saying “there’s no way this book can end totally happy”. And in some cases, it didn’t. Gemma and Kartik don’t really get to be together, Pippa can’t survive in any world, Fee loses the person she loves, and Miss McCleethy dies. But it ended happier than I thought it would. Ann gets to escape her horrible family and go onstage as a chorus girl, starting her acting career instead of her governess career. Felicity has her debut, gets her inheritance money, and is able to move to Paris and live happily and the way she wants to there. And Gemma has her debut, survives all the problems with the magic and the Realms, and gets to live in a way she wants to after her debut, in New York and at a university. I was happy with the ending of this book and this series. I really do like Libba Bray books.

The last book I read in the month of August was Industrial Magic by Kelley Armstrong. This one also had Paige as the protagonist. It was interesting, but I don’t so far like Paige as much as I did Elena. However, it was interesting, and I didn’t see everything that happened coming, which was cool. This supernatural series is wonderful.

I started reading Blameless by Gail Carriger this past month, but I didn’t finish it. However, as all the other Parasol Protectorate books, it’s great.

Now for the September TBR List:

The first book I’m reading this month is The 5th Wave by Rick Yancy. I’m excited about this one, I’ve heard so much good about it. Plus, Rick Yancy is going to be at the National Book Festival this month (on my birthday too!!!), and he’ll be signing books, so I want to finish it before then so I can get him to sign it and tell him I liked the book.

I’m also going to be reading The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan. Anything to make the wait for The House of Hades go by faster! This is the first book in the Kane Chronicles, and should be really good to read. (Also, speaking of Rick Riordan books, did anyone else see The Sea of Monsters? I really can’t understand why Hollywood keeps taking books, “adapting” them to movies, but throwing the damn book out the window before writing the screenplay. Attention, writers of the PJO movies: I’d like to offer you my services as Official Book Slapper for The Titan’s Curse. While you’re writing the screenplay and while you’re filming, I’d be happy to come in and when one of you goes “hey, this is cool, but what if instead we did THIS thing that isn’t in the book!” I take the Titan’s Curse book and SLAP YOU ACROSS THE FACE with it. This will ensure that you keep the movie as close to the book as possible and therefore do not infuriate the book series lovers further. Please consider hiring me to do this for you. I’ll even bring in my own copy of the book to slap you across the face with. Okay, rant over.)

I’ll be reading Strangers in Death by J.D. Robb after this. This one, the same as every other book in this series, looks very interesting. And as always, I can’t wait to catch up with the regular cast of characters in these books. I love all of my people in here. Especially Eve, Roarke, Peabody, Mavis, and Trueheart (swoon).

The fourth book I’m reading this month is Key of Light by Nora Roberts. This is the first book in a series by Nora, and her series books are usually pretty good. I like Nora Roberts books. She writes a lot, and publishes lots of books in the same year, and they’re all pretty well-written.

I’m also going to read The Shoemaker’s Wife by Adriana Trigiani this month. I’ve wanted to read this book for a while, the historical fiction aspect is one that always interests me, and the story just sounds so wonderful, and I can’t wait to see what happens. Also, the cover and the spine are gorgeous, and I found it in Costco for less than on Amazon. And I love books with deckle-edged pages, which this one has. All extra cool things about this book.

I’ll be continuing on Blameless by Gail Carriger this month. As I was with Changeless, I’m still incredibly frustrated with Maccoon for being so stupid as to think Alexia would have a baby with another man. I keep yelling “SHE’S A PRETERNATURAL! HER TOUCH MAKES YOU HUMAN! PRETTY SURE A PROLONGED TOUCH COULD MAKE YOU HUMAN ENOUGH TO GET HER PREGNANT YOU MORON!” at my book. It’s kind of weird to see on the bus, I’m sure. Can’t wait to finish this one. And I really want to get this series boxed set, so if anyone wants to get me that for my birthday, it’s September 22, and the Parasol Protectorate boxed set. I’d love you forever.

And, as always I’ll be continuing reading A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon this month. These books are long, and I still have another to go before the eighth book comes out, but it doesn’t come out till March ’14, so I think I’ll finish before it comes out. I love the series, even if it is long and heavily detailed. The historical accuracy and details are wonderfully done and very meticulous to the smallest of things. Ms. Gabaldon is wonderful at what she does.